Chief executive of Gillette France from 1966, then of S.T. Dupont, he led thirty years of corporate management alongside a body of plays that the Comédie-Française ended up performing. Born Michel Grinberg, he had adopted in 1947, while translating The Waste Land, his mother's surname: Vinaver.
The story
While translating T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land, in 1947, the young Michel Grinberg took his mother's surname: Vinaver. It was the name of his grandfather Maxime, a lawyer and a leader of the Russian Constitutional Democrats, whose family had fled the Bolshevik revolution for Paris in 1919.
Born in Paris on 13 January 1927, Michel Vinaver saw the Vichy laws drive his family to the United States in 1941. He enlisted in the French army in 1944, graduated from Wesleyan University in 1947, published Lataume in 1950 thanks to Albert Camus, won the Prix Fénéon in 1952 for L'Objecteur, and saw Roger Planchon stage Les Coréens in Lyon in 1956.
In the meantime he had gone into Gillette, in 1953. Chief executive in Italy in 1964, head of Gillette France in 1966, then head of S.T. Dupont from 1971 to 1978: close to thirty years of running companies, carried on alongside a body of plays. He left industry in 1980 and from 1982 taught theatre studies at Paris-3, then at Paris-8; L'Ordinaire entered the Comédie-Française in 2009.
Father of the actress Anouk Grinberg, he died on 1 May 2022. The stone in Division 96 brings together two generations and two exiles — the grandfather, then the grandson carved under both his names: “Michel GRINBERG VINAVER”. Neither Gillette nor the Comédie-Française.
The grave
A family tomb that brings together two generations and two exiles. The grandfather's first: “Maxime VINAVER, né le 19 novembre 1862, décédé le 10 octobre 1926” — born 19 November 1862, died 10 October 1926 — the lawyer who led the Russian Kadet party, whose family fled the Bolshevik revolution in 1919. Then the grandson's, carved under his two names: “Michel GRINBERG VINAVER, 1927-2022”. Neither Gillette, nor the Comédie-Française.
On site, do not miss
Two generations on the stone: “Maxime VINAVER, 1862-1926”, leader of the Russian Kadet party, then the grandson under his two surnames, “Michel GRINBERG VINAVER, 1927-2022”.
Visitors' questions
Where is Michel Vinaver's grave?
In Division 96, Avenue Transversale No. 2, in his grandfather's grave: “Maxime VINAVER, né le 19 novembre 1862, décédé le 10 octobre 1926” — born 19 November 1862, died 10 October 1926 — then “Michel GRINBERG VINAVER, 1927-2022”. Two names for one man.
Camille ErlangerDid Michel Vinaver run a company?
Yes, for close to thirty years: he joined Gillette in 1953, became its chief executive in Belgium in 1959 and in Italy in 1964, then head of Gillette France in 1966, and ran S.T. Dupont from 1971 to 1978. He was writing his plays all the while.
Étienne MougeotteWhy did he change his name?
While translating T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land, in 1947, he took his mother's surname: Vinaver, the name of his grandfather Maxime, a leader of the Russian Constitutional Democrats. He was born Michel Grinberg, and the stone carves both names.
Pierre HaïkWho got him into print?
Albert Camus, who saw his first novel, Lataume, published in 1950. L'Objecteur won the Prix Fénéon two years later, and Roger Planchon staged Les Coréens in Lyon in 1956 — three years after he went into Gillette.
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